- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an “immediate suspension” of the department’s advisory committee operations.
- The secretary also ordered “completion of service” for all members of the advisory board.
- Advisory councils are composed of civilians appointed to provide bipartisan advice.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an “immediate suspension” of the department’s advisory committee operations while he conducts a top-down review and ordered the removal of all advisory board members by mid-February, an internal memo said.
Austin, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the US Senate in late January, said the Department of Defense review was being conducted to “align with our most pressing strategic priorities and the National Defense Strategy”.
“Advisory committees have and will continue to play an important role in the formulation of public policies within [the Department of Defense]”Austin said in his memo to the department.” That said, our management responsibilities require us to continually assess to ensure that each advisory committee provides the appropriate value today and in the future, as times and requirements change. “
In the memo, Austin says the “completion of service” for all members of the advisory board will take place no later than February 16.
—Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) February 2, 2021
News of changes to the department’s advisory committees was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday afternoon. The latest news follows a report last week from the Politico that the Pentagon has suspended all appointments to the councils.
The Pentagon’s various advisory councils consist of civilians appointed by a defense secretary to provide bipartisan advice on matters ranging from trade policy to military policy.
The committees’ intended non-partisan objectives were scrutinized after acting secretary of defense Chris Miller – who was appointed by then President Donald Trump after dismissing his secretary of defense after the November election – purged the councils and installed several supporters in final weeks of administration.
After Miller abruptly emptied most of the Defense Policy Council, he cleaned up much of the Defense Business Council. Changes to other boards followed. He then selected loyal people like Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager David Bossie to fill the vacancies.
Some of the loyal individuals the government sought to place on the boards included people who were surrounded by controversy.
Scott O’Grady, a retired F-16 pilot in the United States Air Force, was appointed to the Defense Policy Council in December. The war hero promoted several conspiracy theories in support of Trump’s baseless allegations that the presidential election was stolen.
O’Grady recently shared a tweet saying that “suggesting that martial law is not a bad idea when there is an attempted coup against the president”, according to CNN, which also reported that O’Grady shared other debunked theories about the election, insulted former military officers and retweeted at least one pro-QAnon hashtag.
Ret. US Army Gen. Anthony Tata, who was also named an adviser, had previously been criticized for characterizing former President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” with “Islamic roots”.
When the Trump administration quickly moved to reform advisory boards, an adviser to the Defense Business Council who survived the purge resigned in protest. In his resignation letter, Steve Blank wrote that by purging advisory councils and filling them with Trump allies, the Trump administration “has put the country’s security at risk”.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that “frantic activity” at the end of the Trump administration Austin was “deeply concerned” and was a determining factor in his decision to clean the boards and start over.